Will of Chakra
by noctisxsol
Summary: Kushina and the Third Hokage are dead, but Minato lives to guide his son. Unfortunately, Naruto cannot be allowed to become a ninja, lest the Kyuubi be freed and a prophecy of destruction come to pass. But nothing can stop Naruto from achieving his dreams, not the rules of his father, the hate of his home, not even being chained in a dungeon with his chakra sealed.
1. Prophecy

The Will of Chakra

Chapter 1: Prophecy

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto: it is the property of Kishimoto. This story will feature blood and violence, readers easily offended are forewarned. This will be a dark story, with heavy AU and character death.

"This means speech"

"_This means thinking"_

"**Bijuu Talking"**

"_**Bijuu Thinking"**_

'**Voice of the spirits'**

Jutsu

[Sound effects]

-Scene info-

We now begin our tale…

-Konohagakure, Night of Kyuubi Attack-

It was over. It was finally over. But the price was steep. It always was. The rampage of the Kyuubi had been stopped at the price of three lives close to his heart. Naruto, the son of the Fourth Hokage and his wife Kushina, had been made into a jinchuriki and acted as the living prison to the beast, but not everyone would treat him with the respect he deserved. Kushina had died protecting her son from the Kyuubi's final attack. The Third Hokage had died as well, taking his successor's place in the belly of the Shinigami as the price for sealing the strongest of the bijuu in a child. Many other lives were lost, but those three were vital the fate of the world. And they were vital to the blonde man holding his child as he looked back at the ruined battlefield. "_I envy the dead their rest. For the living there is never an end to toil and suffering."_

A familiar face appeared amidst the depressing carnage with a bright smile. "Minato! You survived! Sensei got to you in time then." The gray haired man patted him awkwardly on the back. "Don't feel bad, Sensei was the Hokage as well, and the people need you. Your son needs you. You aren't allowed to die yet. But I have news from the Great Toad Sage, there is another prophecy. When the tainted chakra from the three of the nine is released, love given will preserve, hate and pain will bring an end to the ninja world as you know it. Those are his exact words."

Minato cracked a small smile at the words in spite of his losses. "It seems you were wrong about the child of prophecy Jiraiya-Sensei. Three of nine is obviously Naruto-Chan here, the third Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed beast. The tainted chakra must be the demon chakra of the Kyuubi. The only thing we need to do is make sure he is loved and the world will be saved. It should be easy. After all, he is the only thing keeping the Kyuubi from destroying his home village!"

"I wish I could have as much faith in the people of this village as you do."

-Hokage Tower-

Every adult in Konohagakure was gathered to hear the announcement of their beloved Hokage. "People of Konoha" Minato began "This has been a terrible night, full of death, but we have endured. The Will of Fire has not been extinguished! We have survived Kyuubi's attack because of the sacrifices given. I would like to highlight the three sacrifices closest to me. The Third Hokage, my predecessor and friend gave his life to take my place. Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze" The crowd gasped at the revelation. Their beloved Hokage was married? That means there could be children! But in these sad times and the context of the list they instantly became more somber at what they knew was coming. "My wife, died holding the beast down so it could be sealed. My son Naruto" The crowd all reached for a handkerchief, knowing the only son of their beloved Hokage was surely dead "has become the newest Jinchuriki of the beast." They knew he was dead, and large groups do not like to change what they know. "I present to you, the one holding the beast!" Years later Minato would look back on this speech as where it all went wrong. Maybe if he had just put his son's state in better terms, or explained himself better… but it was too late. The people had set their expectations, and it would take a miracle to change them.

"Kill it! Avenge the Hokage's Son!"

"Burn it like it burned our homes!"

"No, kill it slow. A quick death is too good for the beast!"

The instant the people saw the young Naruto they already called for his execution. Minato tried to restore reason. "People! Calm down-"

"KILL IT!" His words were not heard amid the cries for the death of his son.

"SILENCE! LISTEN TO YOUR HOKAGE!" Jiraiya took it upon himself to try to restore calm for his student.

Said student most assuredly needed the help. "_This isn't the way it's supposed to happen."_ His dreams of a happy future with Naruto were shattering into thousands of pieces. He began trying to grab up the pieces. "_Surely this is just an emotional response, and after some time to think they will calm down and realize that Naruto is a hero for holding the beast that killed their families. Surely they can tell the difference between a prisoner and the warden. They should know enough Fuuinjutsu from my talks or their ninja friends to be able to tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll in which it's sealed. I just need to give them time to calm down."_ "This is my order: No one is to talk about Naruto's status as Jinchuriki. You are not even allowed to imply it when speaking to your children. And no one is to lay one finger on him. Know that if he dies the beast will reform and continue his rampage. For now, go home and tend to your families.

The people went home, each of them plotting their own way to get even with the demon that cost them so much.

-That Night-

Minato collapsed into his bed. It had been a very long day of doing paperwork, while his clones helped with reconstruction. Naruto was sleeping soundly in the next room. "_I'm going to need a babysitter for the little guy. I'm going to need to take some missions, and I won't be able to take him with me. If only Kushina had survived, she would know who we could trust." _His son's cry brought Minato to full wakefulness in an instant, and the Kage flashed to the Hiraishin kunai with his weapon drawn and a bad feeling in his gut. A young man with white hair and a green bandana was holding a knife over Naruto and muttering darkly. Before the boy had a chance to do anything else Minato drove a kunai through the back of his head, and the boy dropped the knife before falling down dead. Minato picked up his child and brought him into the master bedroom. He set up an array of seals to keep his son safe, before collapsing into bed again. "_For now, I can't trust anyone but myself, Jiraiya, and Kakashi."_

-3Y AKA (3 Years After Kyuubi Attack)-

Naruto had developed into a little ball of energy and sunshine. Even though he looked like a carbon-copy of his father, the boy acted like Kushina in her youth. Minato would usually leave the boy to Kakashi and spend the day doing paperwork, or going on a short, one day mission. "_Naruto acts like the reincarnation of his mother. It makes me miss her so much, but it makes me so happy at the same time. Sometimes I still expect her to greet me at the door when I get home even though it's been three years. Yes, three years. It seems neither I nor the people can let of the past. It seems to infect everything. Perhaps I was wrong when I said the Will of Fire remained strong, if the people show no hesitation to socially isolate an innocent child like this. It seems I may have to give up hope that the people will give up their hate."_

Throughout the years, the young Naruto had been the subject of no less than ten direct assassination attempts before people learned that it wouldn't work. After that they tried subtler means. Kakashi always had to test the formula he bought for poisons after a stray cat refused to drink the milk. Every few times the merchant's hand seems to have slipped some dangerous chemical into the formula. A few times older kids had tried to hit the young child when he got lost from his father on a grocery run. Kakashi had taught the children a lesson they wouldn't forget. Not even thrown rocks or garbage were allowed to strike the Sharingan ninja's little brother. But the lack of physical pain did not mean happiness. Any time the boy was see, civilian and ninja alike would turn away from him and pretend he wasn't there as they told each other about the monstrosities the child had undoubtedly committed.

The only truly happy times Naruto had was the little training his onii-san let him do, and the bedtime story his father would always read to him before bed. He especially liked the stories that ended with the hero marrying the princess he saved and living happily ever after. He always declared that he was going to be the best Hokage ever, and save princesses every day, and marry the most beautiful of them all, and live happily ever after. Minato and Kakashi always smiled at the unhindered enthusiasm of the boy. If only they could be as sure…

-4Y AKA-

Minato sat in his office facing a person crisis about the future of his son. "_It's been four years, and if anything, the hatred has increased, and their children won't even talk to him. The people of the village will only give him hate, and I can't insulate him from that. As he gets older, he'll only get out more, and be exposed to more hate. Too many close calls have resulted from trusting people who seemed to like him, I can't trust them. And if he tries to become a ninja, he'll have to go through the academy. The kids will smother him in hate if their parents haven't done it already. I can't let him go anywhere else; he'll be an open target to anyone who wants to hurt me, and I won't be able to protect him. Even if I or Kakashi train him as an apprentice he'll have to interact with the civilians for mission and no other team would work with him. I have no choice then. This world has damned itself, but as Hokage, it is my job to preserve this village, and this world as long as possible. I'm sorry Naruto, your dream won't come true. I can't let you become a ninja. Even if you don't run into a situation where you need to use your tenant's Chakra, your life expectancy will drop to twenty years or less. I'm sorry my son; I'm a terrible father."_

-Later-

"Tou-san? What do you mean I'm not allowed to become a ninja? You're the Hokage, you can do whatever you want, can't you? Can't you let me be a ninja?"

"No, Naruto. I may be the Hokage, but there are things I cannot do. I cannot command people's hearts. You're a smart kid, you've seen the way people treat you. No one will be able to work on a team with you, and as my son, you are far too tempting of a target to allow to leave alone. You will never be able to do any missions, and will have wasted your life and faced danger for nothing. It's best that you find a civilian job out of the public eye, and live your life out in peace."

"But Tou-san, being a ninja is the only thing I want to do. "

"And it won't work! I'm sorry, Naruto." "_And I'm sorry Kushina."_

-6Y 2M AKA-

After Minato told Naruto that he was not allowed to become a ninja, both of them quickly became depressed and quiet. Minato commanded all active ninjas, academy students, and clan heirs to avoid direct contact with Naruto, lest the boy become more encouraged or find a way around the ban. The law was ill-planned, as Minato himself was included, and Danzo was looking for any excuse to depose the Hokage after he shut down ROOT. So the boy was left with no friends, and barely any family. He turned to books after he found a way into his father's study. From dawn till dusk every day he would study theory. This went on for a year and a half, until his father discovered him when he had to get something from his library. After that Naruto was always escorted to the park every day, with only two sealing scrolls filled with food and 50 ryo, and watched by Kakashi as every child ignored and every adult scorned the "demon child." And so, every day from dawn till dusk, he trained his body to the limit. He even managed to unlock his chakra from the information in the books. This self-destructive schedule lasted for three months, until he met his first friend.

-Flashback, 5Y 9M AKA-

Naruto was training with kunai and shuriken he found in an unused training field. He had carved crude targets into the trees and was trying and failing to get the weapons to hit home when he heard a bossy voice from behind him. "You'll never hit the target if you don't throw it right."

The boy finished throwing his brace of kunai and turned around to show the girl his face so she would recognize him and leave, just like everyone else. He stood facing her with his eyes closed so he didn't have to see her leave. When she didn't leave after ten seconds he opened his eyes. He saw a girl with her hair done in buns, wearing Chinese style clothes with a perpetual blush on her cheeks standing facing him tapping her foot. "Aren't you going to run away?" The blonde stammered hopefully, "Don't you know who I am?" He was rattled by the unexpected social contact.

"All I see is a little kid who doesn't know how to throw weapons. Why would I need to know more than that? Why would I run from a kid like you?"

"I'm tainted. None of the other kids will play with me, no one is allowed to touch me, and even my otou-sama and onii-san can't be in my presence and they're the best ninja in the village." Naruto was in tears by this point "I'm not allowed to be a ninja, and I'm not even allowed to be around books because I'll ruin them."

The girl gave a heavy sigh and wrapped the crying boy a hug. "You're such a cry-baby. See, I'm touching you and I'm okay. I'm sure once you show your tou-san how much you've improved he'll let you become a ninja."

While the girl was saying this Naruto had gone dead still. No one except for otou-sama and Kakashi-onii had ever touched him, and even they had never given him a hug. He started screaming and trying to get away. "ahhhhHHHH. Let me go! It feels weird! I don't know how to deal with this!"

In shock the bun-headed girl let the writhing boy go. "What's wrong? Have you never been hugged before? Hasn't your kaa-san ever given you a hug?"

Naruto had gone back to crying "Otou-sama told me okaa-sama died when I was born to protect me. I don't think she would be allowed to touch me either."

The girl put her hand on his shoulder, looking for a reaction. The boy was too absorbed in his misery and memories to notice. "See, I'm touching you and I'm perfectly fine. I'm Tenten, I'm an orphan so I don't have a kaa-san either. Why don't you tell me about your tou-san, and I'll show you how to throw kunai and we can be friends!"

Naruto had only ever heard about friends from his father's stories where they helped the hero to rescue the princess. "I'm Naruto-chan! I'll gladly help you rescue your princess Tenten-san! I'll help you whatever it takes! That's what friends do, right?"

Tenten laughed at the gaps in the boy's learning. "Silly boy. Naruto is your name, every calls you Naruto-chan because you're so small. And I'm a girl, so I won't be rescuing any princesses; I _am_ a princess and I'm going to be rescuing helpless little princes, like you Naruto -_chan_!"

Naruto had finally stopped crying. "Well you're barely bigger than me, so you're Ten-chan! And I'm not helpless! I unlocked my chakra all on my own, and can do Taijutsu, and everything! There just weren't any scrolls about how to throw weapons in Otou-sama's scrolls!"

Tenten put on a teasing smile. "If you say so _Naru-kun_, but you're going to have to show me."

That was the start of a long and training filled friendship.

-Present, 6Y 2M AKA-

For the next five months Naruto and Tenten had met every day in what quickly became their clearing. Tenten had shown Naruto how to properly use thrown weapons, and Naruto had shown her the ninjutsu and Taijutsu he had learned. They had told each other about their lives and spent almost every waking minute with each other. Today was the first the first change from that schedule. Tenten had gone to the parade for the signing of the peace treaty with Kumo to see the types of weapons they had and get any candy they threw so the two of them could share it. Naruto knew he wouldn't be welcome at the public event, so he went to their clearing alone. "_It's strange. I used to practice every day on my own, but now that I have Ten-Chan it just doesn't seem the same without her. I guess I should train the dangerous techniques that she doesn't want me to do. I might need those, but I don't want her to worry."_ He half-heartedly started perfecting Futon: Daitoppa. The noise attracted an unlikely guest. Hinata Hyuuga had wandered away from her caretaker. The shy girl peeked around a tree to find a blonde training himself to exhaustion. She stared for what felt like hours, until she tried to withdraw and cracked a twig, alerting the blonde. "Ten-chan, is that you? Did the Kumo group not have enough weapons to hold your interest?" He turned to face his friend only to find a girl with blue hair in a hime cut bowing to him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt your training."

"That's fine hime-san. You don't need to bow to me; I haven't had to rescue you yet." Naruto let loose a laugh that seemed to brighten the sun and raise the temperature.

Hinata blushed at being called a princess. In a way she was though… "My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I am the heiress of the noble Hyuuga." This was the one time she was willing to play the noble family card, if it let her get closer to the sunny blonde.

"You actually are a princess!? I just called you princess because of your haircut. You look pretty with your hair like that. If only it was longer in the back…"

Hinata blushed even harder. She quickly diverted the conversation before the cute boy gave her more complements and made her faint. "You thought I was someone else when you heard me, a Ten-san?"

"Tenten-chan is my best friend! She taught me how to throw a kunai properly! She wants to find helpless princes and save them, but I told her I'm not helpless, and I taught her ninjutsu! You're a girl too, right? Do you want to save princes too?"

"N-no, I think I already found the prince I want to save me."

"Aww, I wanted to be the save to save you. Just make sure your prince is worth being the savior of a pretty girl like you."

"Y-y-you can be my prince i-i-if you want." She pulled out a handkerchief that her father gave her and handed it to the little prince.

He held it in his hand and smelled it. "It smells like lilacs! I forgot to give you flowers! You always have to give pretty princesses flowers! Come with me, I know just the place to get you your flowers hime-chan!" Hinata barely held onto consciousness as he grabbed her hand and led her to a field of flowers. Within minutes he had a small bouquet of purple and white lilacs that he handed to her. "There you go, Hime-chan! Pretty flowers for a pretty girl!"

Hinata had just enough time to accept the bouquet before her caretaker finally found her and dragged her back to the Hyuuga compound despite her protests.

-That Night-

Since both Minato and Kakashi were busy all through the night Naruto was allowed to stay out as late as he wanted. Tenten was merely one more orphan that the matrons couldn't be expected to control as she slipped out to meet her friend at their clearing. "Were the weapons worth going to the parade Ten-chan? Were they better than the ones at Higurashi's store?"

"They didn't even draw their swords! I followed them the whole way and they didn't draw their swords once! It's like they didn't think anyone would be interested in them!"

"How absurd! Children not being interested in weapons. Who would have though?"

"You sound awfully pleased with yourself. Did you make a friend? A pretty girl from Kumo catch your eye? Does Naru-kun like his girls tan?"

"Even better! I found my princess! She gave me a handkerchief and I gave her flowers"

Tenten felt a surge of anger she didn't understand. "_After all, I knew I couldn't stay with him forever once I realized his father forbid anyone who wanted to become a ninja to associate with him." "_That's great! I'm guessing you'll need my help when it comes time to rescue her and live happily ever after, so you'd better tell me all about her." "_She had better be good enough for him. He is my friend."_

"She's the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan! She's really pretty. Her eyes are prettier than yours, but your hair is better."

"_This isn't good. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan is just the type of person the Hokage's son would marry. Why do I care so much? Why should I be mad another girl is my Naru-Kun's princess?"_

"I'm gunna go visit her house, do you want to come?

"uhh, sure!"

-On a Side Road-

As the two children were taking the back roads to the Hyuuga Compound as Naruto was telling the tale of how he met his princess. He had just reached the point when he gave the bouquet to Hinata when he noticed a white lavender petal floating down. He looked up just in time to see the Kumo head nin carrying Hinata, going low and relatively slow to avoid detection. The two young ninjas jumped onto the roofs and sprinted after the man. They both threw a kunai in an attempt to cripple the man, but only managed to get his attention. The three of them landed and the kidnapped drew his ninjato and dashed at Tenten. Naruto used Kawarimi to take the hit in his thigh for his friend. He thrust the kunai in his right hand into the extended forearm, and quickly threw the kunai in his left hand into his attacker's right to make him drop Hinata.

Both of the injured ninja went through hand signs. Naruto finished before the rage-muddled Kumo nin and released a Futon: Daitoppa, pushing the nin into a nearby wall. After a few tense second the ninja stood and shook himself from his daze and forced Naruto and the nearby Hinata to their knees with his killing intent. "You just made a huge mistake child! Both of you will die!" The ninja drew the second sword from his side and slowly approached the paralyzed children. A three pointed dagger sprouted from the distracted man's shoulder, courtesy of Tenten. She paid for her bravery when the ninja flashed over and knocker her out with a vicious backhand. "Wait there, you'll get your punishment in time, bitch!" He once again made a menacing show of turning to the children and walking slowly towards them. When he looked he found that his arrogance and distracted state had been his undoing. The weak Hyuuga girl had thrown the ninjato which he had left in the boy's side and the boy had speed the attack with another Daitoppa. The man had only the time to register his sword piercing his brain before his spirit left his body.

Naruto turned to his princess and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, just like the heroes in the stories. "I told you I would save you Hime-chan!" He took the last two flowers from the bouquet he had given her and placed them in her hair. "There, now your hair looks even better than Ten-chan's!"

Tenten awoke from the spray of blood landing on her just in time to hear the exchange with a heavy heart that she couldn't understand. "_It hurts so much to see him with that girl. But he seems so happy. What should I do? Could I give up being a kunoichi for him?"_

Her thoughts were interrupted by her friend's call. "Ten-chan, come over here! I haave a present for yoouu." When she approached he handed her the two swords that the Ninja had used. "You saved me, and you'll get more use out of these than I will, take them!" Her heart thundered for her to do something more as she took the two swords, but was prevented from any further action by the unwanted appearance of the Hokage who drove an open hand with glowing fingertips into her friend's chest. Both girls were stunned as they watched the Hokage viciously seal his son's chakra.

-Minato-

Minato felt a beacon from one of his kunai, and had to spend several minutes with political maneuvering bullshit before he could go and do whatever needed to be done. By the gods, someone could have died in the time it took for him to leave! When he arrived what he found was much worse. Yes, by all appearances the Hyuuga heiress had been kidnapped, and there was a dead ninja with a hole in his headband and blood everywhere, but the most alarming thing of all was that his son was at a scene where this had happened. Then he looked closer. He wasn't here looting a corpse. This kill was too fresh for the killer to have gotten far, and the only chakra signatures here were the three children. Which means… "_My son still hasn't given up his dream of being a ninja, he's gotten himself hurt, and by the looks of things he even unlocked his chakra somehow. I'm sorry Naruto, you leave me no other choice."_ Minato formed a Five Points Seal on his hand and drove it into his son's chest, tearing apart the shirt in the process. Then he quickly followed by placing a myriad of other seals to lock the Kyuubi tighter than was safe for a jinchuriki. Minato finished the pacification of his son with senbon in strategic pressure points, and he quickly proceeded to flash away after flaring his chakra to call ANBU to clean up the mess.

Hinata and Tenten both stared at the spot their Naruto-Kun had been and at each other. Hinata timidly approached the older girl and wrapped her in a hug. Both girls broke down crying at the loss of such a monumental figure in their life.

-Unknown Place, Unknown Time-

Naruto quickly returned to consciousness once the senbon were removed and found himself in an artificially lit underground bunker with his chakra sealed and his arms and legs bound. His father sat tiredly in front of him. "Otou-Sama, I'm sorry. There was never a chance for me to be a civilian. If I made anything, no one would buy it. If I sold anything, no one would buy it. If I tried to be an employee no one would hire me. My only choice to live was only ever to be a shinobi! That is why I could never obey your rule."

Minato started to speak without moving or opening his eyes. "There was a prophecy on the day of your birth. The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya that the three of Nine, that's you, the third container of the Nine tailed Fox, would either preserve the world or end it. The defining factor was love, it always is, isn't it." Minato opened his eyes to reveal a crazed look, the pupils dilated so wide that the entire eye seemed black rimmed with a thin line of blue. "The problem was the fucking civilians, ya know. The entire plan hinged on them accepting you. But the idiotic bastards couldn't get over their hate, ya know! Every time I see one of them I think, Kushina died for you, appreciate it bastard! I just want to grab every one of them by the neck and tell them My wife fucking died, ya know! And you! Are fucking! Ignoring! Her only fucking son! And now we come to you my beloved Naruto. So much like your mother, but not the same. She died protecting you, ya know! You carry the same beast she does, it's like she gave you a birthday present! But if you ever use that gift the entire fucking world will be doomed! Isn't that Fucking Great! But now I have to tie you up, Ya know. As much as I want to kill every back-stabbing man woman and child in this village it happens to be my job to prevent that. And So, here I am, chaining my own son to the wall like a criminal for their crime. I'm sorry, my son" his eyes returned to normal for just one second "This is going to hurt."

Minato proceeded to loose Naruto's arms, only for them to be clapped in spiked handcuffs that pierced his bones. The handcuffs were secured to the walls with chains that were tightened until his shoulders dislocated. The same was done with his legs. Then the pain started. Kunai inscribed with chakra absorbing seals were driven into every nerve cluster. Chains were fused into his bones as one last tribute to Kushina. The only place left untouched was his stomach where the seal of the Kyuubi was burned by the force of the chakra.

After multiple hours of the frantic torture Minato fell back his depressed stupor. Before he left he hugged his son for the first time. "Don't worry Naruto, it's over. It's finally over. The price was high, it always is, but your safe now." Minato left one final message before the door closed "I'm sorry Naruto. I really am."

A/N: I do not plan for this to be a one-shot, but it will be a while before the next chapter comes up. I wanted to get the first chapter posted to get the ideas on paper, so to speak. This first chapter ended especially dark because I felt like I was getting too light and whimsical with New Game Plus. The rest of the story will be dark, but mostly only in the undertone of inevitability.

Originally this was going to be a much more generic Naruto-neglect story, then I realized that those were done to death. So I made changes and made my own variation off of a scene I saw in a dream of a mentally unstable Minato going ape-shit in sealing Naruto's chakra and the Kyuubi. From there I wanted to make Naruto the greatest contrast I could to that, but keep him close to canon, and I came up with the story-book prince idea. The official pairing is none right now, but that is liable to change based on if I start feeling like cutting myself while writing this or not.

Leave a review and tell me what you think.


	2. Compensation

The Will of Chakra

Chapter 2: Compensation

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto: it is the property of Kishimoto. This story will feature blood and violence, readers easily offended are forewarned. This will be a dark story, with heavy AU and character death.

"This means speech"

"_This means thinking"_

_Naruto's Notes_

"**Bijuu Talking"**

"_**Bijuu Thinking"**_

'**Voice of the spirits'**

Jutsu

[Sound effects]

-Scene info-

We now begin our tale…

-From the notes of Naruto Uzumaki-

_What is chakra? This question should be easy to answer yet no one seems to be able to answer it completely. We are surrounded by chakra. Every person has at least some, and even the animals and insects are blessed with it. But despite the exposure, no one seems to know for certain what it really is. So, what is chakra? The academy answer is as follows: A combination of physical and mental energies. This definition is the only generally accepted consensus about basic chakra, and even that is insufficient. How does this definition stretch to include other types of chakra that seemingly happen fully formed, such as nature chakra? How do the Bijuu, themselves made out of chakra, fit into this view? Then there are the characteristics of chakra which contradict each other. Most ninja will say that chakra is invisible, but those with Dojutsu are able to see chakra, as well as the naked eye being able to see chakra in high concentrations or large amounts. Most ninja would consider chakra to be massless and generally describe it as either gaseous or liquid. Yet large amounts have caused rocks to rise, floors to crack, and even been able to act as solid objects such as the late Kushina Uzumaki's unbreakable chakra chains. Not to mention the idea of the color of chakra, a phenomenon reported by Dojutsu clans, but whenever chakra becomes visible to the naked eye it always seems to be the same blue, except in special circumstances, such as elemental manipulation or a technique. Chakra studies is an almost non-existent field, due to the dangerous and combat driven world which consumes many bright young minds into its endless wars and sprawling graveyards. I however, was forcibly removed was that world before I was trapped in the cycles of hatred and destruction. I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, the demon-child of the Fourth Hokage, and during the time that I was restrained in my father's dungeons I came to know more about the nature and true uses of chakra than even Kaguya, the mother of chakra, and her son, the Rikudo Sannin, combined. Come my child, read my words and gain understanding to right wrongs and protect the innocent. But beware, the world is evil and will try to corrupt you. If you try to use the full power of chakra for your own gain it will destroy you._

-Konohagakure, Hokage Monument; 6Y 2M AKA-

Minato was sitting atop the stone face of his likeness, drinking and enjoying the memories of his clones as they competed to find the most painful way to dispel themselves. It helped with the guilt. He had just chained his own son in a dungeon to save the ungrateful civilians who thought that the only one keeping the demon from destroying them was the demon itself. Granted it wasn't just for the civilians, Naruto was saving the entire world every moment he was alive and the Kyuubi wasn't free. His son was a hero, no matter what anyone else thought. And that's what sickened him, the pain and the fury that came out when he had to bind his son. After Kushina died he had nearly broken down, and it was only Naruto that had kept him stable, along with having to act the part of the Hokage everyone wanted. When Danzo had insisted that he stay away from his own son he almost killed the bastard on the spot. But the old vulture had too much support to outright kill. He lost control on missions before, taking out his frustrations on bandits and nukenin, but now he lost control with his son. "_Death is too good for me after that. Though I had to seal and bind him. For his own good and to preserve the world. I can promise him this though; I will make his stay as pleasant as I can. I'll visit him and bring the books he didn't get to read. I'll let his help with mission requests, and send a team to tell his stories. I'll give him a radio and let him organize genin teams, and run drills, and teach academy students…"_

Minato's monologue of plans was interrupted when Jiraiya appeared and snatched the bottle from Minato's hand. "What is the Hokage doing sitting outside drinking right after a major crisis? That's rather irresponsible, wouldn't you say?" The joking tone was evident as the Toad Sage took a swig from the bottle. "Stress getting to you? There's a reason I didn't take the job."

"It's my son, Sensei, I had to bind him to keep the Kyuubi from getting released. It was the only thing I could do."

"Why don't you retire and move somewhere so Naruto can make some friends, and you can find someone to help you to move past Kushina."

Minato snatched the bottle back. "No one can replace Kushina. And I was bound to this village and it's damned people ever since I became Hokage; I can't leave. And even if I could, do you think we would be left in peace? Konoha and every other nation would be doing their best to capture the power of the Kyuubi, and no town could hide us. And I can't even let him free lest Danzo use that to rouse the people against me, and take Naruto as a weapon. This way he can at least have some happiness. Danzo would seal him in a scroll and declare himself a hero for getting rid of the _demon_." The venom in his voice was obvious as he drove a kunai into the ground.

"Calm down, Minato!" Jiraiya got an idea to take his apprentice's mind off of his troubles. "Why don't you take a break and come with me to Tanzaku Gai. We can relax, get away from our troubles, find some nice women, and you can get rid of that tension."

"Sensei! You think I could go drunkenly carousing while my son is suffering? I have a responsibility, both as a father and Hokage to suffer this pain." He took a large drink, draining the bottle. "I do wish I could have escaped though. Perhaps Tsunade was right when she said this position was cursed; It's made me lose the last thing I care for in this world."

"What about the villagers? They love you and respect you. Don't you care about them? Don't you care about Konoha?"

"Screw the civilians and screw Konoha! No one in this cesspool can recognize a hero presented to them with a golden aura and the voice of the spirits behind him. They'd rather worship themselves and build an altar to their own ignorance, and king whoever plays to their idiotic biases the best! If I could leave I would have done so already, but Naruto would only be treated worse if we stayed, and hunted down if we fled. These walls are our prison, but at least it's a prison I can make my son comfortable in."

-Same Time; Hyuuga Compound-

Two Hyuuga branch members were standing guard outside of the clan head's room, and just witnessed their heiress be carried in by ANBU, along with a dirty orphan girl with a bloody sword. "What do you think happened? Not only was the heiress out of the compound after curfew, she apparently caught a commoner thief, if the sword was any indication."

"We don't know anything, and we don't need to know. Keep your mouth shut and go along with whatever the Main Branch says; that's how you thrive."

"But I've gotta have something to tell my wife to tell her friends. C'mon, you're married too, you know how it is."

"Stand up straight Junior! We are on duty, and thus are representatives of the clan. But between you and me, I think…"

Inside Hiashi was trying to wrap his brain around the amount of grief he was going to get from every side. The first thing his daughter did on her own, and it was guaranteed to piss off everyone, and he'd have to deal with it. The clan was going to hate her for not being alert enough to raise an alarm, and prevent this black eye on their reputation. The Hokage will hate her for getting his son in danger. Kumo will hate her for indirectly causing the death of their head ninja. Konoha in general will hate her for her association with the "Demon Child." Even worse she had gotten herself associated with a dirty clanless orphan, and declared the rat to be her friend. To Hiashi, her dealings with the Hokage's son were either harmless interaction between the children of class, or the foundation for a future political marriage, if his daughter proved to be a better wife than ninja. But the clanless girl was a different story. Who knows what corruptive practices she could be introduced to; rumors say that some orphans don't even draw up contracts before getting married. Unfortunately the girl had to stay, they couldn't seem inhospitable to one who helped rescue their heiress. It seemed they would need to go through the ordeal of making the urchin worthy of the Hyuuga clan. Who knows, maybe she could be pawned off on his nephew to keep the boy docile. He just had to keep the girl out of sight until then.

Hinata and Tenten had their thoughts focused on their friend, and the possibility of making a new friend with the strange girl that their Naruto liked. However when they reached the topic of their friend their thoughts diverged. Hinata was optimistic, some would say unduly so, given the ferocity the Hokage displayed. "_Naruto-kun has to be fine. The Hokage-sama is a good person, and Naruto-kun is a good person, and good people don't hurt each other. Hokage-sama probably just didn't see Naruto-kun's face, and once he realized he was attacking a good person he took him to the hospital. So I just need to visit the hospital as soon as possible to thank him!"_

Tenten had a much less rosy view of life. She had seen children be taken by the ninjas with the blank masks and none of them ever came back. She worried first for herself who she might still save. "_The Hokage saw me with his son, and I'm in the academy! I am going to die! No, calm down… he was too busy restraining his son to get a good look at me, and there's no way the Hokage knows every academy student by face. I just need to keep my head down until this blows over. I just hope the princess understands what's going on; after all, Naru-kun isn't here and won't be able to rescue her ever again. The Hokage isn't going to be lenient this time. Hopefully Naru-kun will only be maimed."_

Both of the girls' thoughts were stopped when Hiashi spoke. "I am glad you are safe, my daughter. As for your friend… We cannot let it be said that we do not reward those who help our clan. You will be given a caretaker. You will move in with him, and learn from him proper decorum. You are a guest of the great Hyuuga clan now; I expect your dress and manners to reflect that fact quickly. Ko! You will be the girl's caretaker." Hiashi whispered to the caretaker "Prepare her for marriage to my nephew, and don't let her be seen until she is presentable."

Tenten was led away by her new caretaker, but already made a headache for him when she made a scene of refusing to surrender her bloody sword before taking a bath. The female bath attendants eventually had to bow to the stubborn girl's will and let her bath still holding the blade. As she bathed she tried to clean the blood off of the sword to help wash away the memory of her only friend being taken from her, but neither the stain nor the memory went away. After a few minutes she decided to accept the facts. She lifted the sword and declared "A sword needs a name, and yours is Chi no Ouji (Bloody Prince)! You're the only thing I have left of Naru-kun, and I'm going to master you!" The girl quickly finished her bath and went out to find some-one to teach her kenjutsu so she could honor the memory of her friend.

-Interrogation Room Under Hokage Tower-

Naruto shook his head to clear out the morning cobwebs and tried to stretch. When he felt the chains the previous night came flashing back. "_Did that all really happen? Did Otou-Sama really lose control like that? Was there really a prophecy about me? No, it must have been a dream, if it was real I shouldn't be able to move with the weight of the chains and the dislocated limbs and general torture. I can move, even If I'm weak, and I even have chakra, even if it's low. It must have been a genjutsu and I'm being tested. I just need to be strong!"_ Unknown to the boy, he was right in part. No normal human would be able to move at all after what he went through, much less have chakra to spare afterwards. His Uzumaki constitution had made itself known, rapidly healing, strengthening, and growing the boy to adapt him to his stressful situation. The boy had grown a few inches to reconnect all of his bones, and his muscles had condensed to bear their load better. Not even the normally fatal amounts of chakra seals placed on him could fully repress the young Uzumaki, as his body went into overdrive to compensate. The kunai were even disintegrated and absorbed into his body after the chakra absorbing seals overloaded. There were two major side effects of this rapid healing. The first was the consumption of his life energy, and the shortening of his life span. The second side effect of this rapid development was audible throughout the tower. The roar of his stomach could overpower cannon. "I'm hungry! When's breakfast?"

Minato chose that moment to enter the room with his son's breakfast. "Ohayo gozaimasu Otou-Sama." Naruto respectfully hailed his father "Did I pass the test?"

Minato stood dumbfounded for a second, and then decided to take the easy way out for the first time in his life. "Yes Naruto, you passed the test."

"Really! I can be a ninja then!" Naruto tried to jump up and down but the chains stopped him from doing a proper victory dance.

Minato forced himself to put on a smile. "Yes, Naruto, but you did so well I'm going to give you a special assignment, that's why you're bound." "_How is he moving? I'm sure I heard him joints break, and no child that age should be able to move with the amount of chains he's wearing. And where are all the chakra seal inscribed kunai? One thing I know for sure is that he still has chakra, I can feel it. I should be fine letting him use Hiruzen's surveillance juts while I try to figure this out, there shouldn't be any risk of the Kyuubi escaping."_ "I have a very special jutsu from the Third Hokage; it lets you see anywhere you want. Now, I want you to stay in this room because the chains and seals are necessary for this to work."

Minato ducked out of the room doing his best to not let his guilt overtake his face. He grabbed the first ninja he could find. "I need the next squad of genin to enter the mission office to serve my son his breakfast, and get me the best genjutsu user you know, that Yuhi girl would be best, I have a long term mission for her." "_How low have I fallen? I can't face my son to feed him, and I'm already planning to hurt him more. Kushina, what can I do?"_

-One Week Later-

Minato had never been more proud of his son and ashamed of himself than at this moment. His son had just improved on a jutsu that was thought to be the pinnacle of information gathering, and had made it so he could use it in prison with his chakra constantly being drained. After Minato had composed himself and explained the fundamentals of the jutsu, Naruto had interrupted with an idea to do it better through Fuuinjutsu. The seal used the chakra that was drained from his and made the room into an enormous seeing stone that could show anything. The only restriction was that it took more chakra the farther away the target was, and the more seals or solid objects had to been seen through. The great accomplishment only served to highlight Minato's guilt though. After he had discovered that his son would heal any disability placed on him within a day he had had to constantly raise the pressure and chakra drainage to keep his son from being able to escape. The results were slightly frightening. The six year old boy already was taller most children two years older than him, and had the appetite of an adult Akamichi. His muscles seemed as hard as steel, and if the weights were removed he could give Gai a workout, if the eccentric ninja raced on his hands wearing a boulder, that is. His chakra capacity was already greater than a Chunin if the seals were removed, and the chakra production was off the charts. This was from one week full of night time broken bones, impaled muscles, and an endless amount of weights that should have crushed him. No one deserved the amount of mutilation than Naruto had already gone through, yet the boy remained cheerful, and smiled so bright when he received his headband that they thought the sun had entered the dim interrogation cell. Kurenai had often considered introducing her student Yakumo to the boy. Both of them could definitely use a friend, and seeing how Naruto became a ninja, even if in name only, despite being chained to a wall and unable to leave a room would hopefully encourage her.

Naruto, on the other hand, was ecstatic at the thought of being able to see his friends, and helping his tou-san. "_I already saved my princess,_ _and I'm a ninja with my headband and everything! Just wait till Ten-chan hears this, I became a ninja before she did! I can't wait to see how she's doing! I wonder if tou-san will let her visit. Maybe Hime-chan can visit too! I wonder how you live happily ever after. The books never explain, they just say that the ninja and princess always live happily ever after. What does one do to a princess after you save her? Other than the obvious things like give her flowers and jewelry, and the other things the older boys do to the girls they call princesses when they don't know I'm there. I wonder if tou-san can show me."_

-Hyuuga Compound-

"When you are married to a respectable husband you will need to know these things, so listen well young lady! When you first meet your groom you will need to do a proper curtsey, and have the proper flowers arranged in your hair. After the marriage you will be expected to keep the house, cooking and cleaning, as well as tending to his other needs such as…"

Tenten was actively ignoring the boring and pointless lessons that the Hyuuga culture teacher was rambling about. "_Is she still going on about what I need to do if I marry a high class tight-ass? Why would she constantly harp these things? I'm going to be a badass kunoichi, just like Tsunade. There's no way I would fall for someone who would actually expect me to cook and clean for him. Does she think I'm going to be marrying Neji or something?"_ Now, she had nothing against the boy, but he was so boring. His face was unmarked, and those eyes were white on white. His personality was the worst part. It was all duty this, and honor that; he seriously needed to get his ass kicked. What she wanted was a man that treated her like an equal, even if he was better than her, and he had to have some marks on his face to break the monotony of perfect cheeks. Her man's hair should be a bright exiting color, and his eyes... She shook her head to get the images that looked like a younger Yondaime with whisker marks out of her head. "_Well, maybe I can ask him to see Naruto, surely he wouldn't punish me too hard for that."_

Meanwhile Hinata was finishing pressing the flowers Naruto had given her as she contemplated her prince, and her surrogate big sister. "_Even if Naruto-kun isn't with me, Tenten-nee-san can help me. Though I hope I can see my Naruto-kun again. After lessons we should ask the Hokage where he left him. Maybe I can learn where he lives!"_

-After Classes-

Hinata was walking to the Hokage tower dragging Tenten along with her. Hinata's head was filed with thoughts the fun the three of them could have together, while Tenten was busy checking for escape routes and making convincing stories in case the Hokage decided to punish them for associating with his son. Once they entered the tower Tenten took the lead with a sigh as Hinata started to hide behind her. "Hime-imouto, one of these days me or Naru-kun won't be there to hide behind. You want to impress Naru-kun when that time comes, don't you? So at least walk at my side now, so you can eventually walk at his."

Hinata meekly allowed her nee-chan to steer her to her side, but didn't stop hiding her face in her jacket. "_It's a start I guess." _Tenten wearily mused.

The two girls were quickly sent into the Hokage's office, the secretary trusting the Hyuuga heiress to want something important enough to warrant the attention of the Hokage. They opened the door after knocking to find the Hokage in a daze, staring at a kunai he was holding above his uncovered left arm. Tenten covered her imouto's eyes as the most powerful man in the village slowly let the blade bite into his skin. The blood started to run down his arm and stain the sleeve of his robe. When the first drop fell to the floor he seemed to snap out of his trance and notice the pair of girls standing there in shock. He quickly cauterized the wound with a small Katon jutsu, and turned to face them, as his eyes started darting throughout the room, never meeting theirs. "I'm sorry you girls had to see that; I was just…testing… something. I needed to see how much force was needed to break my skin to help make better armor. … Anyway" His eyes finally came to rest on their faces. "What can I help you two with?"

Tenten took the lead as Hinata had hidden behind her again. "We" she pulled Hinata back to her side "were wondering if we could see Naruto. He is our friend after all."

Minato was about to reject them when Kurnai entered the room to give her report on the training of Yakumo. "With all due respect, it would be best for Naruto to see his friends, it would help keep him focused on acting as a watchman, rather than checking on his friends." "_And the Kami know the boy needs friends; daily torture and isolation the way he has received would have driven a lesser man insane, and left him maimed. I fear his bright smile hides far too much pain for him to bear permanently, especially alone."_

The Hokage contemplated for a second before waving the three girls on their way and collapsing into his chair. He picked up the last picture he had taken with Kushina, before the birth of their son. They were so happy together, and so excited to have a child. Then Kushina died, and the prophecy came, and everything fell apart. If only he could go back… Be happy again…

Meanwhile Kurenai was guiding the girls to Naruto's office and making small talk. About halfway down the tower Hinata suddenly asked a question "Are you Naruto-kun's mother?" Tenten too late tried to stop the Hyuuga heiress from speaking, and possibly bringing up painful thoughts.

Kurenai stopped dead and turned to look at the youngest girl in their group, trying to figure out where the question came from. Did that girl really not know that Naruto's mother was dead? Even more worrying was her thought that she looked old enough to be a mother already. A week ago she might have wished to be the mother of the Hokage's child, and in fact many gossiping housewives had started rumors in the last week that she was the Hokage's new girlfriend, but when your first opportunity to really get to know someone is keeping his son unconscious while he tortures him, it doesn't make for a good foundation for romance.

Tenten came to the rescue by dragging the group forward to where she thought Naruto might be as she hissed in Hinata's ear "Naru-kun's mother is dead! Do you really know so little about him? He told me the first day we met."

Hinata started to tear up, to Tenten's mixed guilt and satisfaction. Kurenai wrapped Hinata in a hug as she shot a stern glare to the weapon kunoichi. "It's alright Hinata, you didn't know. Hokage-sama gave me the job of helping to take care of Naruto now that he has a special job to do."

"But-but-I'm sad because Naruto-kun doesn't have a kaa-chan!"

"He's okay, he has you, and Tenten, and his tou-san-"

"And you?"

Kurenai let a friendly smile slip onto her face. "Yes, and me. Now, let's see how he's doing okay?" Kurenai took a hand of each of the girls, Tenten was slightly reluctant, and led them to the cell.

When they arrived at the cell the girls were shocked at what they saw. Their friend looked like he had aged two years in the week they had missed him. Every muscle had turned steel hard and his motion was so minimal that they mistook him for a statue made to look like their friend. At least, until he spoke in his familiar tone. "Ten-Chan! Hime-Chan! You're here! It's so good to see you in person!"

At the revelation that the divine sculpture in front of her was the little prince who saved her, Hinata slowly blushed until the blush took too much blood from the rest of her body and she fainted. Tenten fared slightly better. "Oh. Kami." Her pupils turned into hearts as she examined the chains. "These chains are inscribed with chakra seals! And they fused them to your bones? That's awesome! I heard some old ninjas hanging around my favorite weapon shop say that you can control them with a strong enough will! Where did you get these? I want some!"

Kurenai sweat dropped and Naruto laughed at the girl's enthusiasm for weapons. "These are here to funnel my chakra so I can do my job." He did his best to puff out his chest in pride. "I'm a ninja, and It's my job to be the watchman for the entire village! Watch!"

Tenten and the recently awoken Hinata stared in wonder as the walls seemed to disappear and they found themselves flying above the village. Kurenai was slightly impressed, but mostly by the youth of the boy doing the technique.

Naruto was beaming at being able to make his friends happy. "I can look anywhere with this! Is there anywhere you want to see?"

Tenten got her request out first. "I want to see how real ninja train!" The scene shifted in a blur of stable motion to a training field used by jonin. They were witness to a ninjutsu spar between Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha, the two most powerful Sharingan users in Konoha. The dual was a sight to behold, with both sides flashing through hand signs at an invisible rate and firing identical jutsu that always canceled out the other. The fighters went through all five elements, with none of their attacks being below a B-rank. The dual came to a close after half an hour when the shadow clone that Kakashi had made previously attacked, and distracted Itachi just long enough for the older nin's attack to conquer the other. They stayed as they discussed each other's weaknesses, and the one eyed wonder reminded the young Uchiha that they were only equal because of the massive power drain from an implanted Sharingan canceling out his youth and inexperience.

With Tenten's request filled Hinata meekly spoke up. "I-I would like to see your room."

"If you really want to, Hime-chan." A blur of motion later and they were in an almost empty bedroom. There was nothing to identify the room as belonging to Naruto except for the nameplate standing against the plain white walls. "I'm sorry it's so plain, No one ever wanted to sell me any decorations and I never had a camera to take a picture with Ten-chan."

Seeing Hinata begin to tear up Kurenai cut in. "Why don't you show us your favorite place then?"

Naruto's face burst into a smile and the scene changed into a clearing. "This is Tenten and mine clearing! We met here and I met Hime-chan here too!"

The three friends fell to talking about various stories while Kurenai looked on with a rare bit of hope and happiness.

-Hyuuga Compound-

"All you must do is give us the body of the one who killed our diplomat, and we will not take any action against Konohagakure, and we will not reveal the secret weakness of the Byakugan. These are our terms, we will not change them." A messenger from Kumo had smuggled himself into the village without the approval of the Hokage, and was delivering his leader's ultimatum without knowing the true events of the kidnapping.

"_What should we do, I cannot let the clan lose face seeming like we cannot protect our own yet I am innocent. But I must act as is best for the clan. As clan Head I must take responsibility for the wellbeing of my clan." _Hiashi prepared to stand but his twin brother Hizashi stood first.

"I am the clan head, and the one who killed your diplomat to save my daughter. I will die for my clan and my family!" The branch member quickly struck his own heart and died to act as a body double for his brother.

"My brother… Kumo scum! You have your sacrifice, take him and leave! But know that our retribution will be severe if you are dishonest with us."

The foreign ninja sealed his target and hurried to tell his superiors the good news… and that the invasion could happen as scheduled.

A/N. Chapter 2 done earlier than expected. I'm having writers block on my other more popular and lighthearted story, so I made this. A bit of advice to any writers, don't try to make a story where almost every character is a pervert when you don't plan to make it always erotic. Anyway hopefully I'll break through soon. **About Minato**: this story is not Minato bashing, and if you feel it is, I probably failed somewhere. He is a good man stuck between a rock and a hard place. Mentally unstable. In case you were hoping, Minato will not be getting together with Kurenai, reasons stated in story. **Naruto's power level**: as you can likely tell, Naruto will be super powerful. "He will win, but at what cost" is the question in combat, not normally victory. **Naruto's pairing**: I am still deciding, but I can explain the reasoning for each girl here, they will be OoC. Tenten is the only girl of Naruto's age group that is an orphan, and is the realist/ pessimist. Hinata is the princess that everyone puts as the girl for happily ever after; she will be shy to everyone else, but have an exhibitionist streak when she gets older and realizes Naruto can see anywhere. Yakumo is another ninja aspirant who has a disability, similar to how Naruto was forbidden, but now is a ninja despite not being able to move: she will look to Naruto as an idol, and be his fangirl. If you want a different girl, leave the reason in a review. Harem is a possibility, but only a small one, I am trying to keep it serious.

Leave a review! More reviews means more motivation to continue.


	3. Uncontrolled

The Will of Chakra

Chapter 3: Uncontrolled

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto: it is the property of Kishimoto. This story will feature blood and violence, readers easily offended are forewarned. This will be a dark story, with heavy AU and character death.

"This means speech"

"_This means thinking"_

_Naruto's Notes_

"**Bijuu Talking"**

"_**Bijuu Thinking"**_

'**Voice of the spirits'**

Jutsu

[Sound effects]

-Scene info-

We now begin our tale…

-From the Notes of Naruto Uzumaki-

_To understand a thing, it is important to first understand the beginning of that thing. Thus, what is the origin of chakra? The oldest legends that have survived to this day point out the mythic figure of the Rikudou Sannin as the first man to use chakra, and it states that he awakened chakra inside of others. To an untrained thinker, this may answer the question, but it fact it raises more questions than it answers. How did the Rikudou Sannin awaken chakra within himself? How was he then able to awaken it inside of others? The most important question however, why does the legend say that he awakened chakra, and not gave or placed? The first two questions can be waved away by the legendary Dojutsu that he was said to wield, the Rinnegan. However, not even the supposed eyes of the gods were ever said to be able to create chakra. Where is chakra's origin, then? Is it a thing eternal, present in all living things of all time? How then are there different types of chakra, since by that statement all living things would run on Nature Chakra. _

_I will tell you the first secret of chakra. Be warned, your life cannot be lived the same way with this knowledge. And there is no keeping a secret once it has escaped._

_All Chakra originates from the chakra fruit that grew on the Branches of the Shinju. Kaguya Otsutsuki, the mother of the Rikudou Sannin, stole the fruit and ate it. She defied the orders of the gods and the taboo of her people and tried to gain the powers of the fruit for herself. When she broke open the shell of the fruit she did gain powers, but the greater part of Chakra escaped into the world, infusing everything with chakra. Kaguya proceeded to use her power without wisdom, and soon fell to madness, and was sealed by her sons who had inherited part of her power._

_This was not the way things were supposed to happen. The gods had looked down upon the world and the wickedness that filled it, and decided to intervene. They planted the seed of the Shiju, and made it to grow from blood spilled in hatred and greed. They had intended the tree to grow from the evils around it, so that when a worthy hero came, he could receive the power to bring about true peace. No one was to take the fruit of their own free will, but rather, the spirit of the tree would present the gift to the one who was to save humanity._

_Kaguya ruined that plan and unleashed a great curse upon humanity from her hubris. She thought she could create peace by power alone, but lacked the strong heart and noble soul to properly wield it. She was sealed away, but might still return if humanity continues as it has. And I fear someone may already have started trying to complete the process already…_

-Kumogakure, Raikage Tower, 10 days after the Kidnapping Attempt-

"Everything is going according to plan. The Hyuuga will no doubt hide the loss of their leader, and be unstable and thus unable to properly perform their patrols. The arrogant asses won't even think to conference with the Hokage, for fear of seeming weak. And while the Hokage is in the dark he will believe that his Hyuuga are operating at their full capacity, when they are crippled. This will leave a wide gap for us to pass through their outer defenses and get within attacking distance of Konoha." The dark skinned man speaking was the new Head of Foreign Affairs, the heir to the now deceased Head Nina, was detailing his plans for the Raikage A, the heir of A, and the proud brother of B.

"How do you plan to deal with the Hokage? The yellow Flash is not to be trifled with."

"Between yourself and your son he should have too much on his hands. And just in case I will send an agent to kidnap the Kyuubi jinchuriki to hold him hostage. Meanwhile B will release his beast and rampage through their forces unchecked since they have no battle ready Jinchuriki. From what our spies say the people of Konoha hate the child even though it's the only son of their great leader and the savior when the beast rampaged. Maybe we could convince the boy to join us after we raze the city, he can't have much love for the city that hates him like that, and his own father hasn't had any contact with him for years. That would be even better than having the Hyuuga's Byakugan. And speaking of Byakugan, I received the scroll with the body of Hiashi." The man placed a scroll at the feet of the Raikage and backed up to a respectful distance.

A unrolled the scroll and unsealed the body. He started at the eyes for a few seconds before incinerating the corpse with black lightning. "You are a fool who didn't check the body. It wasn't the clan head, but rather his twin. But no matter, we will soon have plenty of Hyuuga for all of our purposes. Prepare for the invasion. I give you the responsibility of gathering the troops. We set out in one week to allow the news of the Hyuuga's death disperse and lull them from watchfulness."

-Hokage Tower, Naruto's chamber, immediately after-

Hiashi and the elders of the Hyuuga were sitting on the floor of Naruto's chamber, stoically taking the verbal flogging they were receiving from the Hokage. "Seriously, are your brains even functional, or did you remove them and replace them with honor? I don't see how you could have made such a stupid decision otherwise! You struck a deal with a foreign ambassador without consulting me, or even fully examining the contract! You didn't even bother to inform me of the cost you paid, and I only found out because Naruto noticed that there was only one Hyuuga Head at their daily gatherings. If he hadn't found out, I might have been ignorant of the entire matter. Who knows what Kumo could be planning if they have the daring to demand the body of a Hyuuga without my permission. Actually; Naruto!" The Hokage didn't even turn his head." What did you hear? Is their meeting over yet?"

Naruto answered as best he could while panting from the exertion of watching a target so far away and so fortified. "Hai… They plan to invade… while the Hyuuga on the border patrols are distracted. They don't think you know about anything Otou-sama."

"Good, let's keep it that way. Continue to monitor them Naruto. I want to know their numbers and their route, and their significant members, and their exact time of departure. Do not make a single error Namikaze, lives are on the line." Minato walked out of his son's chamber and held himself together just long enough to Hiraishin to his empty house before breaking down into sobs. "_I'm a terrible father… I can't even bear to look him in the eye because they look so much like Kushina's… I'm a terrible father."_ As if by an act of fate the framed picture that was sitting on a nearby desk fell onto the floor. By some miracle the broken man was able to catch it in his palm through his tear-blurred eyes and look at the picture that it showed. It was the last picture of Kushina that was taken before… before she had to go away. She was pregnant with Naruto and both of them were happy… so happy…

Before he knew what he was doing Minato had seized his Hiraishin kunai. "Kushinaaaa" he sobbed. He thrust the dagger down. Blood pooled in his palm and dripped onto the floor. The knife had stabbed his own heart. He pushed the knife further into the picture, enjoying the just pain he suffered as the steel grated his bones. He stopped only when the sound of a new piece of paper being torn struck his ears. When he examined the photo he realized that in his state he had allowed one of the prongs on his kunai to damage a different part of the picture. There now was a hole also in Kushina's womb, where Naruto was. The father quickly tried to fix the picture but only ruined it further with blood stains in a doomed quest to make the picture perfect again.

-Three Days Later, Park-

Hinata was training in the glade that Naruto had shown her when she visited him. She practiced throwing a kunai and turning on her Byakugan to find where the dagger had landed. Ko had taken the heiress and the Hyuuga's honored guest to the park for training, but the two girls had slipped away so they could train as they wanted. As Hinata gathered her last kunai she turned on her eyes to check for any stray kunai left behind. She briefly saw a silhouette in the second she was able to use her eyes.

"_Naruto-kun? …" _but when she looked with her eyes there was nothing but trees.

"Well, what do we have here?" A trio of third year academy students had found the Hyuuga princess and decided that she was the perfect outlet for their anger. "We found a little lost Hyuuga. What are you doing here, little stuck up prick? Came to shove your superiority in our faces?"

"I-I-I don't think-"

"Hey, isn't she the sister of that Neji-bastard? She must think she better than us too!"

"N-n-n-no!"

"I think we should give her the same treatment that her brother gave us!"

Hinata desperate looked around for someone to save her. Tenten had gone to a different part of the forest for more solitude when training with her sword. Ko was still unaware of where his charges were. Her final thought was to the little prince who had saved her the last time. But that was impossible; Naruto was in no state to save her this time.

"Hime-chan! You can do this! You can save yourself this time!"

"_Naruto-kun… You're right, I can do this!"_

Hinata tried to charge the older boys to use her rudimentary training to knock them down, but they were older, bigger, faster, stronger, and had a much longer reach. Before Hinata was even close to being able to hit the leader of the trio, the boy caught her wrist. "We've had enough of you Hyuuga clan superiority! We're going to teach you a lesson!"

Hinata closed her eyes. "_I've failed. I can't do anything. Naruto, help me!"_

In her desperation her chakra began to act, seemingly on its own. It seemed to bubble up, rebel against her unconscious commands trying to control the suddenly active power within her. This only grew until a large portion of her chakra escaped.

The arm of the boy holding her suddenly went completely limp, followed by his other arm and legs. "W-w-what the hell are you bitch!" The number two was only seconds away from turning tail and running. "Not even that monster Neji could do something like that!"

The third boy spoke up. "She must be a demon just like that blonde kid that used to stay here! I think it's possessing her! We should free her from its control." He pulled out a kunai to show his point.

With her chakra still uncontrollable, her Byakugan unexpectedly activated. She saw every ounce of chakra in her three opponents but also something else. She saw a familiar silhouette, entirely blue, made of no body, but rather chakra that was away from a body. It seemed to blend into the ambient chakra, but stuck out once she knew it was there. "Naruto-kun, thank you!"

The chakra figment turned and seemed to smile at her, but the two remaining boys were only fortified by the statement. "Naruto? That's the monster's name right? She must be possessed!" Both boys had their knives ready and slowly advanced, watching for any sign of trickery.

Seeing that the bullies would give her no chance to even get close, Hinata backed up and held up her arms in front of her. The chakra phantom looked on before suddenly starting to grin. A beacon of chakra seemed to go out like a pillar of pure magnetism to all who knew him.

The boys didn't know him though, and began to advance. They cornered the unarmed Hyuuga and raised their arms to throw their kunai in a sick game of target practice. Before they threw, however, they fell to the ground. When Hinata allowed herself to look she saw her attacker face down on the ground, trying to push themselves up, bleeding from gashes in their calves. Standing above them was Tenten, staring at the invisible beacon. "What in the world?... Naruto?"

Remembering that only she could see the apparition because of her kekkei genkai , Hinata tried to cut off the chakra to her eyes, only to find that her chakra still wasn't obeying her properly. She fainted from chakra exhaustion seeing a single glimpse of a tall blonde.

-With Minato-

The Hokage was in his office, reviewing all of the information given about the coming invasion. Suddenly he felt Naruto's chakra flair up from the park area. "_How!? There's no way he could have gotten out of that room without destroying the seals in there! _ _I have to check."_

The Namikaze flashed to the Kyuubi container's cell, and found the boy still in his proper place, chained to the wall. But there was something wrong with the seal. Some of the floor had been gouged, the original seal that was usually hidden by the images projected had been wiped out, and a new seal had been made by carving the floors and wall. The young man chained to the wall was unconscious, but some of the chains that were keeping him to the wall had left the anchor links on the wall and were acting on their own. It seemed that the chains were the things that had changed the seal, and recently at that. "Naruto! Wake up!" He struck the boy, but the child didn't respond. "What the hell is going on? I need to take more precautions. I'll have to remove your chakra completely soon, if you can't stay quiet. I can't let all of my sacrifices go to waste; I can't let your chakra free." He grabbed one of the errant chains and pulled with all his might. The chain came loose from his son's body, along with a chuck of his flesh and bone that left a large hole in his flesh, steaming and healing itself. The chain dropped lifelessly to the floor. Another chain was grabbed and removed. The blood flowed freely into the gashes on the floor, filling it and forming a new seal. The blood began to flow up the walls, completely filling the hollows on the walls and ceilings. Another chain was removed. A red sheen covered the walls and floor as the seal became permanent.

He flashed to the closest kunai to where the chakra signal was coming from. The signal was invisible; the Hyuuga heiress was passed out nearby, and the Tenten girl was standing above two bleeding academy aged boys. Something was very wrong, but he didn't have the means to find out what, why or even how. He could only muddle through as he had before.

When Naruto woke up, his wounds were healed and a new seal was added. A circle of outward lines surrounded all of the previously laid seals on his stomach. For the first time, he was not able to draw on his chakra at will.

-Hi no Kuni Border, Invasion Day-

Minato and the best of his ANBU and personal guard were waiting at the border for the Kumo attack force, hiding in the trees. Kakashi was taking care of the final line of defense in Konoha, while The Hokage led the first line. While he was waiting, the Namikaze began to muse to Itachi, who was next to him. "It's beginning. It's going to begin again. War… War feeds on its own waste of death and leaves the spawn of hatred, which grows into even more war, and more death. And yet again the cycle goes round. They say I ended the third great war single-handedly by killing those thousands of Iwa shinobi. Did I stop that war or just plant the seeds of the next? Larger, bloodier, with even greater heroes who leave swathes of widows and orphans in their wake, who don't create peace, only mourners? What would happen, I wonder, if instead of playing their game of war and battlefield, I decided to just flash to their homes and kill all of their wives and children? I could do it too, and there's no one who could stop me left there. Would they just give up? Would they fight harder for some petty revenge? Do they deserve that? An enemy is what, ultimately? One that stands in your way? One who opposes you? Everyone not under your banner? Ugh, I can already smell the death… This might be enough to convince me to give up on all life. Perhaps the world would be better off if I just let the fox out to destroy the world, if these are the pests that inhabit it. Itachi! Tell me; why do you fight? Do you think you could make a difference in this world if you killed just the next enemy?"

"No… I'm already sick of war, it's pointless. No matter how many I killed in the Third War, there always were more enemies, and more fanatical. But I have to fight, I fight for my brother, so that perhaps he could live without the threat of war, without having to fight and kill."

"That is the wrong answer, you know. You're supposed to say you fight for the village. But it's a better answer than the village. After all, what even is Konoha? The walls? The monument? The Hokages? The People? I can see no way to justify fighting and killing for those, least of all the civilians who tried to kill Naruto. Itachi, what would you sacrifice for your brother? The rest of your family? Peace? Your good name, and all of yourself?"

"There's nothing I wouldn't sacrifice to help my brother, and save him from walking a path of death and darkness. I would sacrifice everything I have."

"What if he doesn't want you to? What if he wanted to walk the path of pain, and came to hate you for it, hated you for saving him from the terrible life you led?"

"Even then. I would do anything to give him a truly happier life."

"What if you had had to sacrifice the world? What would you do then?"

"… I would… place my brother ahead of the world."

"… In the end you are wise, but only wise in your foolishness. Itachi, I appoint you my heir. If I don't survive this, you will be the Hokage. Perhaps then you will see how wrong you are."

"You're being rather pessimistic, Hokage-Sama, you are the strongest man ever, you won't die here. And what about your student, Kakashi? Shouldn't he be before me?"

"Heh. You never know. And Kakashi… Will forever be my student and the son I never had, but he isn't in the right state to be Hokage, and lead rather than take orders. But that not important right now, the enemies are here. After the opening attack, leave the main force to me, you and the other ANBU will stay back and take care of the stragglers."

A group of twenty-five Kumo Shinobi leapt over the border and into the center of the Konoha formation, carelessly neglecting to have a proper look out from overconfidence. The Konoha nin sprung their trap. Katon: Karyu Endan (Dragon flame)flew at the attackers from every angle. Screams and burning flesh were flowed into the air. The fire wrapped around the enemies and continued to burn even after the chakra to the attacks had been cut. Genma spoke up, "That should take care of them…"

Once the fire dissipated, it was revealed that only five of the enemies had succumbed to the fire; the other twenty stood in a circle, their hands on the ground, forming a Raiton: Kaminari Shiirudo (Lightning Shield)around them. The dark skinned leader glared at the Hokage. "Konoha Scum! You won't stop us! Kumo will claim the superiority that it deserves!" He stood and drew his sword, breaking the barrier to conserve his men's chakra for battle.

Almost immediately after the barrier was dropped the attackers were beset by Hiraishin kunai, thrown by the Konoha ninjas. Before any of the Kumo nin knew what was happening, Minato was already in their midst with a Rasengan in his right hand and a kunai in his left. In under a second the two ninja on either side of the Head of Foreign Affairs had their throats slashed open. Their blood spewed out of their throats, going back.

Minato flashed to the next kunai, pre-emptively orienting himself to his next target. Iwa cannot be allowed to have control of the bridge. He thrust his Rasengan into the face of the next Iwa while he cut the throat of another. He continued on his massacre. Knife to the heart, Rasengan the skin off of three Kumo and leave them to bleed, just the leader left, throw the kunai behind him and as he tries to turn around for when he uses Hiraishin rush and remove his arms with Rasengan.

The dead bodies fell to the ground, their blood staining the forest floor. "There, problem solved. Let's go home; I need to make sure Kushina didn't do anything crazy."

Black lightning flew past his shoulder, leaving a small burn and a large crater. "Don't think you've beaten even a fraction of our forces, _Hokage_. I'm here for a rematch, but this time my brother will be fighting too."

"You must have stones for brains if you think I'll surrender this bridge."

"What bridge? Never mind, I just have a warning for you, if you insist on fighting, I'll order my infiltrator to kill your son."

"I don't have a son"

-Hokage Tower, Naruto's Chamber-

"I don't have a son"

"_What?... He… can't…. I'm… I have to be. He's the only one. I have to be his son, I can't be anyone else's can I? He's never said I was his son, did he? He has to have some time. If I'm not his son, who am I? Did my parents not want me? Do I even have parents? Am I even human?"_

"Whoa… That's cold." A fair-skinned young man wearing a Kumo headband walked into the room. "He doesn't even have a son, well what does that make you? Not that he's exactly been acting like one anyway, judging from your state. Well that just makes my job easier." The man pulled out a long sword. "You have no father and the entire village hates you so much they would worship me if I killed you. Did you know I got in here by writing kill the Kyuubi Jinchuriki on the purpose line of the visitation form? And the secretary helpfully pointed out your room, with the command to make you suffer." The man was exaggerating, drastically. He snuck in using the guise of a captured Konoha shinobi returning home with critical information, and the secretary had sent the man to Naruto for substantiation of his claims. "You could disappear and from here and everyone would be happier." The purpose of the man was to seduce Naruto to Kumo, but child psychology was not included in his training.

The bound child was panicking and frantically trying to escape his chains, use his chakra or do anything.

The man raised his sword and time stopped.

"_I-I I don't want to die! I'm not supposed to die! I saved the princess, don't I get to live happily ever after?" _Bloody tears dropped from his eyes. _"I was never a prince, nor a knight, just an animal that played at being human."_ He opened his eyes to stare at the blade. _"And now the animal is going to be put down because it has no home."_

-Border-

Things were certainly not looking good. The Raikage, the Hachibi jinchuriki, and multiple BOLT agents had caught the group unaware and a very one sided battle had begun. In the initial attack both Raido Namiashi and Iwashi Tatami were knocked unconscious and taken hostage. Genma and Itachi were fighting for their lives against a seemingly endless horde of enemies. A and B were fighting the Hokage, and between the two of them were not only keeping up with the fastest man alive, but outpacing him, and keeping him in the area with the threat of his men's lives.

"Oh Boy! You're looking pretty slow; You better start the Go Go Go!"

"This isn't the time B! Kill the bastard then you can rap!"

Minato tried to use the slight distraction, and appeared behind the Raikage and tried to slash him with his kunai, but the attack was blocked by B. A quickly retaliated, but Minato skillfully avoided the attack in the air, and tried to use Rasengan on the man's chest, but was knocked aside by a tentacle of the Gyuki, sent from B. The demon chakra held him down as it incinerated his skin and disrupted his chakra control to prevent the use of Hiraishin.

-Hokage Tower-

Naruto closed his eyes. "_I have nothing"_

Images of his only two friends appeared in front of his mind's eye. He saw their pasts and their presents. He saw how Hinata was alone, only tethered by Hinata and himself after the death of her mother. He saw how Tenten cried herself to sleep, wondering why no one wanted her. He saw Hinata with her father, staring at her with nothing but a cold indifference. He saw the way Neji constantly tried to discredit or hurt Tenten for her part in saving Hinata and killing his father. **'**_What about them; surely they are worth living for._**'**

"_Hime-chan, Ten-chan… yes, I can't die here! I still need to pay you back… for giving me a reason to live, and letting me pretend for a little while."_

'**What do you want most of all?'**

"I want… to protect! To protect Hime-chan and Ten-chan! To protect Kakashi-Onii! I will protect my Home! I will protect my Father! Even if they don't claim me as theirs, I claim them as mine and I won't abandon them!"

Time unfroze.

The man began to swing his blade, but found his arms quickly stopped. Five chains broke off of their anchor on the wall. Five of the rays from the sun turned and sealed together a part of a wall. Four of the chains stopped the man's arms, and slowly pulled them back. The tip of the blade slowly moved back to its position before the swing, and then continued. There was a series of pops as the ligaments of the man's shoulders came apart. His screams were muted by the fifth chain constricting his neck. The pain gave the man the strength of lung to force air through his throat.

The chain skittered back, almost like a frightened child before responding to its master's frantic plea and piercing the enemy through the heart.

'**You are worthy, of how much we will see. Receive our blessing.'**

The seals of blood rose from their homes and began to boil. The crimson mist latched onto the chains and began inscribing their seals on the chains, before reaching the host body. The blood formed into a mass of solid needles that pierced the boy's flesh to reach his own blood. Before long every ounce of blood was tapped and the needles retuned to a black ink that stained the new seal onto the body of the new champion. His body exhausted from the pain, Naruto fell into a trance to continue the execution of his will.

-Border-

"_Chakra… Such vile chakra. Demons, beasts; Bijuu. Monsters of endless destruction. Then Jinchuriki. Kushina. Yes, Kushina. I'll meet you soon. We can be happy together again, nothing to ever make us sad again. Kushina. You are the only one."_

Minato slowly became aware that there wasn't any pain anymore. He opened his eyes and saw a figure of white, with two large wings. Chains made out a white chakra were restraining the beast and forcing it back into its host. Minato held out his arms toward the figure. "Kushina…"

The BOLT Members trembled in fear. "Aka no Shi… The red death has returned to kill us all!" One of the poor fools tried to charge the spirit. Before the doomed fool even drew his sword the figure turned its blank face to him.

The glare of the blank eyes caused the man to stop for a moment. After a visible struggle the man compelled himself to continue moving forward. When he got within arm's reach he tore off his mask. "My older brother died trying to capture you bitch! How dare you!" The man gathered all the strength he could in his limp arm and tried to punch the figure in the face.

His arm was carelessly caught. "You care only for revenge and your own vain desires. **'You are not worthy! Return to your true purpose!'**"

All of the chakra in the man's arm left violently in a storm of electrical energy that destroyed every nerve on his arm. The charred appendage fell limp. "Bitch! You have no right!" He did his best to pull out a kunai with his left hand. "Give me back my arm and my chakra! Then come to Kumo like the good little bitch you are, and I'll even give you a treat."

'**Your mind is weak and your purpose utter folly. 'One** chain wrapped around the unmasked ninja's arm. **'You have corrupted the gift by your presence, now your punishment is to spend eternity purifying it. To stone with you!'** Unbalanced Nature Chakra flowed into the man's chakra coils, turning him to stone starting from his arm.

Meanwhile the Hachibi was being returned to its seal, despite attempts to break the chains by A. A chain soon came and bound the Raikage from his Raiton no Yoroi. The two Kumogakure leaders would have been sitting ducks if Minato was not occupied with staggering towards the apparition and all of the other shinobi were awestruck at what was happening with the unfortunate BOLT ninja.

As the feet of the arrogant ninja turned to stone the spell over the audience broke and the Kumo shinobi fell into a frightened frenzy. Disregarding the order of their superiors they fled back home, with a very justified fear of the spirit. Minato continued his stumbling approach. A tried to struggle out of the chain, but was only able to move because of physical strength. Minato touched the white spirit, his eyes gaining the pigmentation of Sage Mode.

The figure looked down at Minato. **'Sufficient.' **The spirit body dispersed into light, and Minato was left alone.

The chains remained though, and A barely managed to pick up his brother and escape before Itachi secured his comrades and thought to take down the handicapped Kage.

Minato stood staring at the spot where he thought his wife had returned to him as his men scrambled to regroup.

Meanwhile, in his chamber, Naruto was coughing up blood, and the body of the dead Kumo shinobi began to cool and rot with no one to remove it.

Chapter 3! Credit to for my pseudo-Japanese techniques. Minato is very unstable, and is having an extended flashback mixed with reality; he half thinks he's still just a jonin who just made the ultimate weapon and was told to use it defend a bridge. He still isn't even married, much less have a child yet. Not that Naruto understands PTSD. The other half is occupied with find weakness-kill. Not exactly the best side to show to an impressionable child either. The demon chakra then flashes him forward to the day of the Kyuubi escape, but his mind had Kushina as the first priority rather than the village.

On another note, it's surprisingly difficult to write a compelling extended combat sequence for Minato because he can always just teleport out of danger, or to attack unexpectedly. I hope what I made was not terrible.

Next thing coming is chapter three for Kunoichi's host.


End file.
